Ramrods
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Call a welding supply shop (yellow pages). They might carry aluminum welding rods in the size you need. I get smaller ones for landing gear & c. on model airplanes.
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Good idea. This is a fishing port with lots of aluminum welding going on.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Why noy get in touch with a metal supply place or a machine shop? They should have access to some 5/16 aluminum or brass rod. I just made a 3/8 ram rod for my Lyman, cost me $4.25 for the brass rod and about 15 mins. to drill and tap both ends on a lathe, and still had enough left over to make a couple short starter sets.
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make up a PVC tube with a removable cap on one end and a cap on the other as long as the rod. (mine is about two inches in diameter) put the new rod in and fill with kerosine let soak till spring. when you take it out wipe it down then coat with wax or bullet lube. you should be able to bend into a circle with out breaking it!
With all this talk of RamRods, and with the number of newcomers to the sport I thought I'd pass on few thoughts and an observation I made a few minutes ago.
I just bought another T/C Hawken .50 cal. precussion and while examining it I noticed the wooden factory ramrod which came with it. (Yes it is the original).
The maximum distance a full grain went without breaking out was a little over 9 inches. With T/Cs reputation for quality this suprised me.
Looking at another T/C Hawken its maximum distance was a little over 14 inches. A third T/C I looked at has a "good" ramrod without grain breakout.
As the ramrod is over 28 1/2 inches long it looks like a failure is almost inevitable.
For newcomers, the issue is that IF the grain of the wood (the dark/light bands) is not running parallel with the sides of the ramrod everywhere you look, it ends up with some of the grain starting on one side and further along the rod, it may come out the other side. If this condition exists, the ramrod may break along these grain lines when a lot of force is applied to ram a ball or whatever.
Several people have had wooden ramrods split this way resulting in the sharp end pokeing a hole into or thru their hand or arm.
If you have a wooden ramrod, go examine it to see if this condition exists.
I am not talking about being able to see open wood pores like you see in some of the "open grain" woods like oak and walnut. As mentioned above, I am talking about the dark/light lines in the wood. While rotating the rod with your fingers, if you see a dark grain line approaching the side of the rod and it then turns around and starts going in the direction it came from as you rotate the rod, that spells danger.
If the grain is crossing the width of the rod, consider getting a replacement for you own safety and piece of mind.
I just bought another T/C Hawken .50 cal. precussion and while examining it I noticed the wooden factory ramrod which came with it. (Yes it is the original).
The maximum distance a full grain went without breaking out was a little over 9 inches. With T/Cs reputation for quality this suprised me.
Looking at another T/C Hawken its maximum distance was a little over 14 inches. A third T/C I looked at has a "good" ramrod without grain breakout.
As the ramrod is over 28 1/2 inches long it looks like a failure is almost inevitable.
For newcomers, the issue is that IF the grain of the wood (the dark/light bands) is not running parallel with the sides of the ramrod everywhere you look, it ends up with some of the grain starting on one side and further along the rod, it may come out the other side. If this condition exists, the ramrod may break along these grain lines when a lot of force is applied to ram a ball or whatever.
Several people have had wooden ramrods split this way resulting in the sharp end pokeing a hole into or thru their hand or arm.
If you have a wooden ramrod, go examine it to see if this condition exists.
I am not talking about being able to see open wood pores like you see in some of the "open grain" woods like oak and walnut. As mentioned above, I am talking about the dark/light lines in the wood. While rotating the rod with your fingers, if you see a dark grain line approaching the side of the rod and it then turns around and starts going in the direction it came from as you rotate the rod, that spells danger.
If the grain is crossing the width of the rod, consider getting a replacement for you own safety and piece of mind.
I can't imagine a much more dedicated TC fan than I've been for 15 years, accumulating a houseful of TC Hawkens over the years, but I have to agree on the poor quality TC wooden ramrods in recent years.
Years ago TC's resin impregnated wooden ramrods that used to ship with TC Hawkens were attractive and very strong, being made with the special resin impregnating process they used prior to their factory fire in which they lost that special manufacturing line.
In spite of my love affair with TC Hawkens, I'll say that the wooden ramrods TC has delivered since that fire are cheap, unsafe and unreliable.
The first thing I do with any TC Hawken rifle (or barrel) I've bought since then is to set aside the factory wooden ramrod and order a solid brass replacement...which by the way actually make the TC Hawken look even more attractive.
I keep the new wooden ramrods, add a wooden ball on one end, and keep them hanging in the garage with jags, tips, and brushes on them for cleaning various calibers and they're great for that...but I wouldn't think about trusting one of them as an actual ramrod to seat a ball for fear of hurting myself, or being in the woods with a ball halfway downbore and a broken rod.
Years ago TC's resin impregnated wooden ramrods that used to ship with TC Hawkens were attractive and very strong, being made with the special resin impregnating process they used prior to their factory fire in which they lost that special manufacturing line.
In spite of my love affair with TC Hawkens, I'll say that the wooden ramrods TC has delivered since that fire are cheap, unsafe and unreliable.
The first thing I do with any TC Hawken rifle (or barrel) I've bought since then is to set aside the factory wooden ramrod and order a solid brass replacement...which by the way actually make the TC Hawken look even more attractive.
I keep the new wooden ramrods, add a wooden ball on one end, and keep them hanging in the garage with jags, tips, and brushes on them for cleaning various calibers and they're great for that...but I wouldn't think about trusting one of them as an actual ramrod to seat a ball for fear of hurting myself, or being in the woods with a ball halfway downbore and a broken rod.
zonie--well spoken. the only thing i might add is that the errant grain would not even need to run completely across the rods width to be dangerous. once a split begins, it is a powerful dynamic force that does not necessarily follow the grain line completely. if the runout of the grain nears even one half of the width of the rod it is very likely to continue across the rod irrespective of whether the grain continues across or not. the same principle is honored when splitting by trying to center the split and watching and adjusting to keep the split on center. once runnout starts, things happen fast.
take care, daniel
take care, daniel
I guess that depends on how your striping it.
For my method (which is to stain the candy cane stripes) it wouldn't work worth a darn on soaked wood. If the wood was full of kerosene or oil, the water base stains wouldn't sink in at all.
For those interested, my method is to take a roll of electrical tape (the black plastic kind) and using a razor cut in from the edge about 5/16 inch, down thru 5-8 layers.
Starting the tape at about a 30-40 degree angle from the rod axis I then proceed to wrap the tape, unrolling it as I go. After the first full turn I eyeball the untaped width.
If it looks good, I proceed to turn the rod and wrap the tape. If I don't like the spacing, I adjust the angle and try again. I personally think the width of the light and dark stripes should be about the same.
This wrapping is done while keeping an eye on the width of the untaped area and adjusting the tape angle so it all ends up about the same width from one end to the other.
By the way, I have had Very Poor luck getting masking tape to work. It just doesn't seem to stick to the wood well enough to keep the stain from wicking under it.
When it is fully wrapped, I apply a HARD pressure on the tape to make sure it is really stuck to the wood. Then I brush on the Walnut stain trying to just come up to the tape edge without really dousing it. In other words, the tape is a guide as much as a seal for the stain.
I apply three to five coats of stain for real contrast, let it dry and peel off the tape.
After removing the tape, I usually apply one coat of Walnut stain over the whole rod to get rid of the White color of the Hickory.
Now would be the time to soak the rod or finish it however you want.
I think some of the old timers used a flame to stripe their rods but I think that is too difficult to keep the pattern uniform and I can't sell myself on the idea that charring the outside of a already thin ramrod can really be good for it.
For my method (which is to stain the candy cane stripes) it wouldn't work worth a darn on soaked wood. If the wood was full of kerosene or oil, the water base stains wouldn't sink in at all.
For those interested, my method is to take a roll of electrical tape (the black plastic kind) and using a razor cut in from the edge about 5/16 inch, down thru 5-8 layers.
Starting the tape at about a 30-40 degree angle from the rod axis I then proceed to wrap the tape, unrolling it as I go. After the first full turn I eyeball the untaped width.
If it looks good, I proceed to turn the rod and wrap the tape. If I don't like the spacing, I adjust the angle and try again. I personally think the width of the light and dark stripes should be about the same.
This wrapping is done while keeping an eye on the width of the untaped area and adjusting the tape angle so it all ends up about the same width from one end to the other.
By the way, I have had Very Poor luck getting masking tape to work. It just doesn't seem to stick to the wood well enough to keep the stain from wicking under it.
When it is fully wrapped, I apply a HARD pressure on the tape to make sure it is really stuck to the wood. Then I brush on the Walnut stain trying to just come up to the tape edge without really dousing it. In other words, the tape is a guide as much as a seal for the stain.
I apply three to five coats of stain for real contrast, let it dry and peel off the tape.
After removing the tape, I usually apply one coat of Walnut stain over the whole rod to get rid of the White color of the Hickory.
Now would be the time to soak the rod or finish it however you want.
I think some of the old timers used a flame to stripe their rods but I think that is too difficult to keep the pattern uniform and I can't sell myself on the idea that charring the outside of a already thin ramrod can really be good for it.
Zonie - Thanks a bunch for runnin me through yer process. That's quite a technique ya got there. I'd like to see an example of the end result, but I can imagine its nice.
I heard most fellas just take a torch to the thang. Reason I ask is because I want to make a range rod, in the typical/traditional way, then attach an antler handle to the end. That last few inches can be a bear to punch down. My short starter has a hole in the ball for inserting the end of the rod, easy on the palm.
Obliged, sse
I heard most fellas just take a torch to the thang. Reason I ask is because I want to make a range rod, in the typical/traditional way, then attach an antler handle to the end. That last few inches can be a bear to punch down. My short starter has a hole in the ball for inserting the end of the rod, easy on the palm.
Obliged, sse
What you do is add a few more inches of powder, then you don't have to punch it down as far... :haha:
OK, I'm just kidding, I do like a longer rod so as I don't smack my knuckles on the barrel as I'm tapping down those last few inches...
I think you could stripe a wooden rod by wrapping it like a candy cane with metal wire (such as copper), and lightly heating with a torch...
Once the wire cooled down, unwrap it and varnish or oil...
musketman - That's a doggone good ideer. Now that I think of it, if you don't punch it down at all, that could be the best way to turn a .50 into a .58!! Somebody oughtta try that and maybe their next 'o kin will tell us how it turned out!! ::
Regards, sse
Regards, sse
WARNING: ATTEMPT AT HUMOR ONLY, THIS IS NOT REAL ADVISE...
Dont leave a air space between the ball and powder, THAT COULD BE DANGEROUS...
Just over fill it with powder and don't forget that double ball load... (40 inches of powder in a 42 inch barrel)
Now, where did my brother-in-law go? :haha:
Dont leave a air space between the ball and powder, THAT COULD BE DANGEROUS...
Just over fill it with powder and don't forget that double ball load... (40 inches of powder in a 42 inch barrel)
Now, where did my brother-in-law go? :haha:
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